Floor Pans- Rust prevention and Tunnel treatement, advice needed Options

[highways]

Hi all,

I'm working on my floor pans... I have them wire brushed down to bare metal. They are in overall decent shape though there is some rust around the perimeter where they meet the longitudinals. These corners seem innaccesable to all but a small wire brush (toothbrush size). Question is:

1. Should I apply POR 15 Surface Prep, then POR 15 to get in cracks, then Seam Sealer, then maybe another coat of POR 15 over Seam Sealer?

2. Or, should i just do Seam Sealer first over bare metal, partial rust areas around the perimeter? Then follow with POR 15?

Second question... the smaller 'cross tunnel'.. the one where the front seat adjustment bracket mounts, is in poor shape. Rust inside it looks bad... some of the lower edges are gone but it's still largely inaccesable to any tools or painting. I think my options are:

A. Drill some holes in top, blow it out, and spray as much paint in there as I can and call it a day.

B. Cut it out and weld in replacement. But is this part even available? And still how do you paint the bare metal inside after you've welded a new piece in?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[proto31]

Just my .02 but I would not use POR 15. It's really thick and will crack over time (shrinkage and body flex (hopefully you don't have too much of that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) )) Once it cracks it works just like the old factory tar and traps water. I really like Zero Rust, it's not available at too many places but the local paint shop near me uses it when they do dock restoration at the harbor here, they paint all the metal brackets that are submerged under salt water with it, it holds up for over a year under salt water before they notice any deterioration. I've been using it for 5 years and haven't seen any of the parts I've used it on start to corrode.

For the tight areas you can't get your wire wheel into, heat works wonders- blow torch and then use a small wire brush to wipe away the melted paint etc. Use some sort of rust inhibitor, then paint with zero rust (or POR 15), then use seam sealer, no need to paint anything other than the body color paint over the seam sealer.

As for your cross bar, I believe that they are still available, if not someone can probably cut one out of a donor car for you. You can always use welding primer on the new one before you weld it in place, then just try and get paint sprayed in after it's welded. I'd be careful about trying to get tons of paint in there, seems thick paint will crack and cause problems again. Just stop getting the inside of the car wet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Dan

[SirAndy]

I would not use POR 15

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
I'm afraid it does not work as advertised ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)


Clean off the surface rust and treat the metal with MetalReady or something similar. Spray with a good primer and paint.

If the metal is weak, has holes or is rotten, cut it out and weld in replacement panels. You can use weld-through primer on those areas to give you some protection of the new metal.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)